Filled tires on Zero Turn

[Bob999]

If you do a search fo lawn tractor wheel weights you will find many alternatives available and you can get substantially greater weight than would be available with filled tires on a ZTR. If you really need more weight you can fill the tires and add wheel weights.

 

[Dargo]

What first turned me to Grasshoppers many years ago was seeing our local school corporation mowing the sides of some extremely steep banks surrounding a football field that is considered in a bowl due to the surrounding hills. However, these were all front mount Grasshoppers. I'd tried nearly every brand of ZTR available including JD, Exmark, Hustler, Ferris, Scag etc. and none of the mid mount mowers would come even remotely close to being to mow the hills that a front mount mower could. I can back up hills on my front mount Grasshoppers that I can't hardly walk up. With the front mount ZTR Grasshopper mower, the front wheels of the mowing machine are the drive wheels; not the tail wheels. This type of mower also rides better than even the Ferris mid mount mowers that have suspension.

I know that doesn't help you, but the part that may answer your question is what the dealer I bought from (who also sells the mowers to our local school corporation and county highway department) told me. That is that the school corporation not only tried filling the tires on mid mount ZTR machines (which made very little difference) but also made wheel weights for them in addition to filling the tires. What they ended up with then was an extremely dangerous mower. He said that the mower had enough traction to go up hills steep enough to easily flip the mid mount mower over backwards. When a worker tried to mow across a slope the rear tires started so spin, which caused them to slide downward, and then the machine flipped over backwards. So, from their trials and experiments before going with front mount mowers, I'd be extremely hesitant to modify a mid mount mower for use on slopes. If it doesn't work as it is stock, I'd use a different mower.

 

[Bob999]

I know that doesn't help you, but the part that may answer your question is what the dealer I bought from (who also sells the mowers to our local school corporation and county highway department) told me. That is that the school corporation not only tried filling the tires on mid mount ZTR machines (which made very little difference) but also made wheel weights for them in addition to filling the tires. What they ended up with then was an extremely dangerous mower. He said that the mower had enough traction to go up hills steep enough to easily flip the mid mount mower over backwards. When a worker tried to mow across a slope the rear tires started so spin, which caused them to slide downward, and then the machine flipped over backwards. So, from their trials and experiments before going with front mount mowers, I'd be extremely hesitant to modify a mid mount mower for use on slopes. If it doesn't work as it is stock, I'd use a different mower.

I agree with your caution! I added weights to the rear wheels to deal with the loss of traction going DOWNHILL. In my experience a characteristic of the mid mount ZTR is very poor traction downhill becuase of the weight transfer to the front wheels. Toro literature rated the mower to 15 degree slopes but I found that when going downhill with even a slight amount of moisture that I had traction problems on 15 degree slopes. Conversely, traction going uphill was great and climbed 15 degree hills, even wet, very well.

 

[LBrown59]

traction going uphill was great and climbed 15 degree hills, even wet, very well.

Nothin like climbin up a tree ya can't get can't get back down?

L B

 

[asylum575]

We should have a rule that old threads can only be bumped up with new information of value.

Just saying.

 

[zzvyb6]

Why not consider tires with increased traction. My JD935 can even be equipped with ag tires (R-1). There's no traction problem with these. When I was looking for replacements for my old F-525, I found quite a few different tread block tires. Cost of new tires is a factor in traction as is wear (in hours or miles). Just turn on cement and you can see the marks. The shorter the wear life, the better the traction.

 

[firefighter9208]

Thanks for all the replies guys!!! I've decided to just leave well enough alone. As I stated earlier the traction with the factory turf tires is acceptable 95% of the time. As I increase my experience on the Grasshopper (35 hours now) I don't feel that it's an issue any more.

Chris